LAHORE: The Punjab government on Monday appointed King Edward Medical University’s former vice chancellor Prof Asad Aslam Khan as the new director general/administrator of the Punjab Human Organ Transplant Authority (Phota) for a period of four years.

A notification issued in this respect reads: “Upon approval of the competent authority, the Monitoring Authority, constituted under Section 8 of the Punjab Transplantation of Human Organs and Tissues Act 2010, in exercise of its powers vested under section 8(3) of the Act, is pleased to appoint ex professor of ophthalmology KEMU Prof Dr Asad Aslam Director General/Administrator of the PHOTA”.

Dr Khan was among 21 candidates who were interviewed by a 15-member board, headed by Punjab Health Minister Prof Dr Yasmin Rashid.

The Punjab Specialised Healthcare Department secretary, the Pakistan Kidney and Liver Transplant Authority dean, Pakistan Medical Association president and the Punjab Healthcare Commission chairman were also members of the board among others.

The other prominent candidates for the post included former principal of the Services Institute of Medical Sciences Prof Dr Mahmood Ayaz, former medical director of Children’s Hospital Prof Ahsan Waheed Rathore, former chairman of the Shaikh Zayed Hospital Prof Farid Ahmad Khan, etc.

After the interviews, the board recommended the name of Prof Asad Aslam for the post. He was appointed against a lump sum salary package of Rs1,000,000 on a contract basis, extendable subject to good performance.

An official said that Prof Asad Aslam was the second DG of Phota since it was established in 2013 during the tenure of the PML-N in 2013, following a number of events that revealed illegal trade and transplantation of human cells, organs and tissues in Pakistan’s most populous province.

The government had appointed eminent physician and former KEMU VC the late Prof Dr Faisal Masood as the first DG of the authority. However, the slot fell vacant after Dr Masood died of heart attack in August 2019 and it was being looked after by a junior officer, Murtaza Haider, since then.

Published in Dawn, December 21st, 2021